Proceedings of the Conference on Language & Technology 2009
Sindhi Morphology and Noun Inflections
Mutee U Rahman
Hamdard Institute of Information Technology, Hamdard University, Karachi
[email protected]
example oç`®h}(‫( )ﭰﭨ‬comb), q`rsn (‫( )ر‬path, way)
and jç`st () (bed-stead) are examples of primary
words. Secondary words are further divided into
complex and compound words. Complex words are
formed by combining prefixes/suffixes with primary
words for example the primary word ö`}®` (‫)ﭴڻ‬
(knowledge) when combined with prefix `®t(‫( )اڻ‬a
prefix which negates the meaning) becomes `®ö`}®t
(‫( )اﭨﭵڻ‬layman) and when combined with n} (‫)اُو‬
becomes ö`}®n}(‫( )ﭴﭨ‬scholar). ö`}®n}(‫ )ﭴﭨ‬and `®ö`}®t
(‫ )اﭨﭵڻ‬are examples of complex words. In case of
ö`}®n}(‫)ﭴﭨ‬, ö`}®` (‫ )ﭴڻ‬is the free form and `®t(‫ )اڻ‬is
example of bound form morpheme, same is the case
with n} (‫ )اُو‬which is also a bound form morpheme.
Compound words are those words which are formed
by combining two or more simple words; they don’t
have prefixes or suffixes. Compound words can be
formed by combining two same or different class words
i.e. their prefixes or suffixes are actually free form
morphemes. For example g`sçj`∞h} (‫( )هﭥي‬manacle or
handcuff), cYç`f~hkn9(‫( )ﭕ‬wild cat) and
fç`q`cç`mh} (‫( )ڌﭨ‬house owner) are examples of
compound words.
Abstract
Sindhi is an example of polymorphemic language
with complex and compound words and rich
morphological system. Morphological constructions in
Sindhi include derivational and inflectional
morphology. The paper discusses Sindhi morphology
in detail with addition, subtraction and replacement
methods. Process of reduplication with partial and
complete reduplication types is also discussed.
Inflectional morphology of Sindhi nouns with
computational perspective is discussed in detail. Nouns
and their inflections with respect to number, gender
and case are discussed and their rules are presented.
1. Introduction
Sindhi is an example of indo-aryan language [1] [2]
with rich inflectional and derivational morphology [3].
It contains high number of inflectional forms. Like
most languages of the world Sindhi also has primary
and secondary word types. Primary words are basic and
not further divisible. Secondary words are again
divided into compound and complex words. Sindhi
morphological construction can either be inflectional or
derivational. This inflection or derivation takes place in
three different ways; addition, subtraction and
replacement of suffixes. Like Urdu, addition also
includes reduplication. Sindhi noun inflection takes
place by change in number, gender or case. Following
sections discuss Sindhi word types their morphological
construction and inflectional morphology of Sindhi
nouns in more detail.
2.1. Morphological construction
Like Arabic, Urdu and Hindi Sindhi words are polymorphemic in nature. Derivational morphology in
Sindhi is combination of a word stem with a
grammatical morpheme usually resulting in a word of
different class. For example nouns are derived from
verbs and adjectives are derived from nouns and vice
versa. Apart from affix changes Sindhi derivational
morphology also takes place by diacritic/last vowel
changes. Table 1 shows examples of derivational
morphology.
Inflection in Sindhi is combination of a word stem
with a morpheme usually resulting in word of same
class which performs same syntactic function as the
original stem. This inflection is due the change of
2. Sindhi morphology
Words are fundamental building blocks of a
language. Linguists divided Sindhi words into two
types [4] [5]; primary or simple words and secondary
words. Primary words are not further divisible. They
are also called minimum free forms (morphemes). For
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Proceedings of the Conference on Language & Technology 2009
Table 3: Complex word construction by infix
changes in stems
gender, number, case or tense. Morphological changes
in Sindhi can occur by addition, subtraction or
replacement phenomenon. Following sections discuss
these constructions in more detail.
Complex Word
r`Ñ`}h®t ‫ﮡ‬2‫ا‬3 (to
be called)
fçtq`}h®`‫ﮡ‬2‫(ا‬to
bring)
Table 1: Examples of Sindhi Derivational
Morphology
Word / Class (meaning)
on}jçh.udqa( !/ِ#$)(sow)
qjçt.udqa( !.ُ#‫( )ر‬put)
sçtkçn9.`ci(()*/‫)ﭤ‬
(fatty)
r`fç`.mntm(%‫ا‬/,)
(power)
Derived Word/ Class
(menaing)
on}jç`.mntm(%‫ا‬/َ#$)(
crop)
qjç`.noun(%‫ا‬.َ#‫)ر‬
(ash)
sçnkç.mntm(%‫ا‬/,-‫)ﭤ‬
(fatness)
r`fç`}qn9.`ci(()*/
‫)رو‬
(powerful,
strong)
jdq`}h®`‫ﮡ‬2‫ا‬56(to
cause to fall)
on}qn9‫رو‬$ / complete
l`q`/ / die
O`9q`َ0‫ و‬/ time
fçtq`َُ (demand)
jhq`6 (fall)
Table 4: Complex word construction by suffix
addition
Complex Word
r`Ñd9‫ي‬3(b`kk(
a`f`}d9289
(gardener)
sR`M`}d92‫=ﮝ‬
(goodness)
Stem + Affix
‫ اي‬+ 3
2: + ‫غ‬9
Change type
Inflection
Derivation
2: + ‫=ﮝ‬
Inflection
Sometimes suffixation causes new words with same
semantic function. For example the compound word
forms jçdÑxn9sçd9(‫ﭤ‬035) (was playing) and
jçdÑxn9od9($035) (was playing) have independently
exchangeable morphemes od9 and sçd-These
morphemes can be replaced with each other without
affecting the lexical semantics of the word. Some
morphemes are opposite to them and can not be
exchanged even performing same morphological
function. For example in Sindhi there are four
morphemes ` (َ‫)ا‬, `} (:), `n}(‫)اون‬, and xt} (‫ن‬0) which are
used to pluralize. These are called allomorphs.
Allomorphs are not exchangeable like independent
morphemes.
Table 2: Addition morphology using prefixes
Derived Word /
Meaning
`®`on}qn9‫رو‬.‫اﭨ‬
incomplete
`l`q`/‫ا‬/ command
`O`9q`َ0‫ او‬/ late
Root
r`c` 3 (call)
Table 4 shows some examples of complex word
construction by suffix addition.
2.1.1. Addition. In this case stem is combined with
bound morpheme; this process is also known as
affixation. These affixes can be prefix, infix or suffix.
Some examples of addition morphology using prefixes
are shown in Table 2.
Stem / Meaning
Stem
r`Ñ`®t‫ڻ‬3'to
call)
fçtq`h®`
‫(ڻ‬to
demand)
jhq`®`‫ڻ‬6 (to
fall)
/
All Sindhi words (complex) which are formed by
combining prefixes are derived words. There is no
inflected word formed in this way [6]. Complex words
are formed by applying internal affixes or infixes in
Sindhi. Infix changes mostly take place in stems of
roots. For example the word r`Ñ`}h®t ‫ﮡ‬2‫ا‬3 (to be
called)
is
a
complex
word
with
stem
r`Ñ`®t‫ڻ‬3'snb`kk(which is inflected form of root
r`c` 3 (call).Table 3 shows some examples of infix
changes in words.
Another complex word construction by addition is
adding morpheme in the end i.e. suffix addition. Sindhi
words which are formed by adding suffixes can either
be inflectional or derivational [7].
Like many other south Asian languages Sindhi also
has examples of Zero-affixaction. Like in the case of
g`}sçh9‫'هﭤ‬dkdog`ms(, sa}tçi: ‫( ﭤ‬companion) and
rho`}çh9‫ه‬. (soldier) their plurals are same as their
singular forms. This happens in almost all masculine
nouns ending with ‫اي‬.
2.1.2. Subtraction. Derivation takes place by
subtracting a morpheme from the stem. This mostly
happens when verbal noun/infinitive noun (‫@?ر‬/ %‫ )ا‬is
converted to verb. Table 5 shows some examples of
subtraction morphology.
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Proceedings of the Conference on Language & Technology 2009
accepted semantic influence of ä`kças well caused
semantic influence on ä`kç-Table 7 shows more
examples of full and partial reduplication.
Table 5: Derivational morphology by
subtraction
Word / Meaning
ö`}®`M` ‫( ﭴﭨﮡ‬to know)
Ötj`®`‫ﮡ‬6‫( ڊ‬to run)
l`I`®`‫ﭹﮡ‬/ (to obey)
Derived word
ö`}®`‫( ﭴڻ‬knowledge)
Ötj`‫( ڊڪ‬run)
l`I`‫ﭷ‬/(obey)
Table 7: Complete and partial reduplication
Word / Meaning
l`¥`/ (change)
p`c`l` ‫?م‬N (step)
2.1.3. Replacement. In this method a morpheme of a
word is changed to another one. For example
productive nouns (‫@?ر‬/ %‫ )ا‬g`k`®`‫هﮡ‬is changed to
g`k`s(‫`ه‬mc Oh∞ç`®`‫ وڙهﮡ‬to Oh∞ç`s`(‫وڙه‬-These
nouns are affected by last morpheme change.
Replacement sometimes affects both root and
morpheme and is known as internal change. Sometimes
this change causes completely different word. For
example in case of change in tense gtcY`m`FG‫( ه‬exist
in future) is converted to `}ghmhF‫ه‬: (are existing). This
is called supplation and takes place in Sindhi language
[8]. Table 6 shows some examples of replacement
morphology.
j`o∞n9‫و‬.6 (cloth)
3. Inflection in Sindhi Nouns
Sindhi word always end in a vowel [10] [3]; so is
the case with nouns. Nouns can have following vowel
endings [11].
‫اَي‬
h9
Table 6: Examples of replacement morphology
Word / Meaning
jç`tُ‫( ء‬eat)
o∞ç`}h®`‫ﮡ‬2‫ه‬$(to teach)
`}®`‫ڻ‬: (bring)
Reduplicated (‫ )اري‬word
l`¥`r`¥` / (exchange)
p`c`l`p`c`l`‫?م‬N ‫?م‬N (every
step)
j`o∞n9k`¥nO-‫و‬.6 (cloth of
use)
‫اي‬
h
‫اَو‬
n9
‫او‬
n
‫اُو‬
t9
‫ُا‬
t
‫اِي‬
d9
‫ِا‬
d
:
`9
‫َا‬
`
Sindhi Linguists divided nouns in two major
categories Concrete Noun (%‫ ا‬P)*) and Abstract
Noun (%‫ ا‬P‫)ذا‬. Concrete noun is further divided into
Common Noun (‫م‬R %‫ )ا‬and Proper noun(‫ص‬T %‫)ا‬
[12]. Nouns are marked by number gender and case.
Following sections discuss them in detail.
Derived word
jç`cn9‫( ڌو‬ate, food)
o∞ç`}h92‫ه‬$ (study)
`}mcn9‫?و‬I: (brought)
2.1.4. Reduplication (‫)ار‬. Urdu, Sindhi and other
south Asian languages make use of reduplication
frequently [9]. This reduplication can either be
complete or partial. In complete reduplication word is
repeated two or more times. For example o`k`$ (time)
to o`k`o`k`$ $ (every time) and ~`q` ‫(ﭔر‬child) to
~`q`~`q`‫( ﭔرﭔر‬every child) are completely
reduplicated words.
Partial reduplication can be done in tow ways; in
first case duplication takes place with small change in
the word for example g`k`®` ‫( هﮡ‬to walk) to
g`k`®`sR`k`®`(‫( )هﮡ =ﮡ‬coming and going) is partial
reduplication. In this example first letter of the word is
replaced by some other letter.
In second type of partial reduplication the repeated
word which is mostly meaningless has semantic
relationship with the actual word. If the repeated word
is meaningful then it accepts the semantic influence of
stem as well influences the stem meaning. For example
the word ä`kç ,-‫( ﮘ‬speech) can be partially reduplicated
to ä`kçltg`}∞‫ڙ‬L-‫( ﮘ‬talk) where ltg`}∞‫ڙ‬/ means
face or dimension which when combined with ä`kç ,-‫ﮘ‬
3.1. Gender
There are two genders in Sindhi nouns masculine
and feminine. Like Urdu this gender classification is
for animate as well as non-animate nouns [13]. For
non-animate nouns which don’t have gender naturally
defined, gender is specified artificially. For Example
ldy` U5/ (table) in Sindhi has feminine and
jhs`}a`‫ب‬6 has masculine gender (which is feminine in
Urdu). Apart from some exceptions the last vowel/
diacritic sound of noun identifies the gender of the
noun.
Nouns with ‫َا‬, :, ‫ِا‬, ‫ اِي‬endings are usually feminine
nouns and nouns with ‫ُا‬, ‫اُو‬, ‫اوُن‬, ‫ او‬endings are usually
with masculine nouns. Table 8 shows examples of
masculine and feminine nouns.
Table 8: Masculine and feminine nouns
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Word
Ending
Gender
Meaning
y`}k` ‫ل‬
َ ‫زا‬
‫َا‬
F
Wife
ctmx`}} 5I‫د‬
F
World
Proceedings of the Conference on Language & Technology 2009
q`}sd ‫ت‬
ِ ‫را‬
‫ِا‬
F
Night
sRgnjqh9 ‫ي‬6‫ﮀ‬
‫اي‬
F
Girl
~`}ru ‫ﭔ ُر‬
‫ُا‬
M
Child
s`}mat9 ُ \P
‫اُو‬
M
Tent
uhsRçt} ‫وﮀن‬
‫اُون‬
M
Scorpion
sRçjhqn9 ‫و‬6‫ﮀ‬
‫او‬
M
Boy
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
3.1.1. Some Rules for Gender Inflection in Sindhi.
Gender inflection in nouns can take place in various
ways including diacritic change, suffix addition and last
vowel change. These changes may occur differently in
words with same endings like ُ ‫ ﭔ‬and ‫ٺ‬
ُ ‫ ُا‬have same
endings ‫ ُا‬but different rule for gender inflection. Word
categories in Table 9 solve this ambiguity. Noun
inflection rules with their categories are also listed in
the table. These inflection rules are in Chomsky and
Halle notation [13]
3.2.2. Masculine
(vi) Masculine nouns with ‫ ُا‬ending are pluralized by
changing ‫ ُا‬to ‫َا‬.
(vii) Masculine nouns with ‫ او‬ending are pluralized
by changing ‫ او‬to .
(viii) There can be examples of masculine nouns with
feminine ending ‫ ِا‬in which case rule (iii) is used
for masculine nouns.
(ix) There are some nouns which do not change their
form when used in plural sense. They have null
inflectional rule.
Table 9: Gender inflection rules for Sindhi
nouns
Masculine
‫ ُه‬3
ُ ‫ﭔ‬
ِ‫ﭔ‬
ُ II
‫ٺ‬
ُ ‫ُا‬
Feminine
‫ ِه‬3
‫ي‬
ِ ‫ﭔ‬
ِ‫ﭔ‬
ِ II
‫ﮡ‬
ِ ‫اُﭠ‬
Rule
‫ ِا ُا‬/ ε__#
‫ي ُا‬
ِ / ε__#
‫اِي او‬/ε__#
‫اِي اُو‬
‫اِڻ ُا‬
Singular feminine nouns with ending are
pluralized by replacing with ‫( ؤن‬with ‫اُون‬
ending).
Singular feminine nouns with ‫ ِا‬ending are
pluralized by replacing ‫ ِا‬with ‫ن‬0 (with ‫اُون‬
ending).
Feminine nouns with ‫ اي‬ending are pluralized by
replacing ‫ اي‬with ‫ن‬0 (with ‫ اُون‬ending).
Some feminine nouns which have ‫ ُا‬ending like
masculine nouns are inflected by changing ‫ ُا‬to
‫اون‬.
Category
I
II
III
IV
V
Table 10 shows examples of all above rules and their
equivalent rules in Chomsky and Halle notation.
Table 10: Number inflection rules for Sindhi
nouns
Singular
Plural
Rule
Categor
y
Uَ 5/
‫ون‬U5/
I
‫ اون َا‬/ ε__#
‫ها‬
‫هاؤن‬
II
:
‫ن‬
ِ ‫ او‬/ ε__#
‫رات‬
‫ن‬5P‫را‬
III
‫ن ِا‬0 / ε__#
‫ي‬6‫ﮀ‬
‫ن‬06‫ﮀ‬
‫ اون اي‬/
IV
ε__#
‫ﮡ‬5‫ﭜ‬
‫ﭨن‬5‫ﭜ‬
V
‫ اون ُا‬/ ε__#
‫ب‬
ُ 6
‫ب‬
َ 6
VI
‫ َا ُا‬/ ε__#
)‫ه‬
)‫ه‬
VII
‫ او‬: / ε__#
‫ﭟ‬
ِ 5
‫ن‬5‫ﭡ‬5
Rule of
VIII
category III
d$
d$
IX
ε ε / ε__#
OR ∅
Some masculine nouns have irregular feminine and
therefore have no gender inflection rule. For example
feminine of ot¥` $ is cçh9` ‫ي‬
َ ‫ ڌ‬and of lt∞r` ‫س‬/
(husband) is y`}k` ‫( زال‬wife). Also in Sindhi like Urdu
there is no general rule to find the gender classification
of inanimate nouns. Usually bigger things are
masculine and smaller ones are feminine; like c`q` ‫در‬
(door) is masculine and c`qh9` ‫( دري‬window) is
feminine so is the case with q`rn9 ‫( ر‬rope) which is
masculine and q`rh9` ‫( ر‬cord) which is feminine.
3.2. Number
Like Urdu and English; Sindhi nouns also have
two numbers singular and plural. Number inflection of
noun depends on gender and last vowel ending. Rules
for number inflection of nouns with respect to their
gender and ending vowels are given below.
3.3. Case ()
Sindhi case system consists five different cases [14]
listed below.
3.2.1. Feminine
(i)
Singular feminine nouns with ‫ َا‬ending are
pluralized by changing ‫ َا‬ending to ‫اُون‬.
- Nominative ().
- Accusative-Dative ().
- Postpositional (‫ي‬/‫)ري‬.
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Proceedings of the Conference on Language & Technology 2009
- Genitive (‫)ا‬.
- Vocative (‫)ا‬.
Example sentences:
Nominative: sRgnjhq`9khjç`m`9sç`9
Oblique:
sRgnjhq`m`khjçdxn9
Linguists theoretically discuss three more cases
(total eight) namely Ablative (‫اادي‬/), Locative
(/!) and Instrumental (""#/‫)اوزاري‬. Practically
these three cases are examples of (‫ي‬/‫ )ري‬case [15].
Nouns are marked by postpositions following them in
(‫ي‬/‫ )ري‬case. Therefore nouns (subjects and
objects) are inflected by the postpositions following
them.
(iii)
Nominative
ot¥t'ُ*+ُ )
3.3.1. Oblique Case (‫ي‬5)P (-e/(-e ‫م‬R). In
nominative case noun remains in its original form but
in accusative-dative, postpositional ‫ ي‬and genitive
cases nouns are inflected. Their inflected form remains
same in all these three cases and is called general form
( ‫ )م‬or oblique case.
Table 11 shows nominative and oblique forms of noun
sRnjhqn9 ‫( ﮀ&و‬boy).
(iv)
Oblique
ot¥`mh'ِ,-َ +ُ )
Example sentences:
Nominative: ot¥`o`∞ç`m`9sç`9
Oblique:
ot¥`m`o`∞çxn9
(v)
Singular feminine nouns with ‫َا‬, ‫ِا‬, ‫ُا‬, and endings
don’t change in singular oblique form.
Rule: ‫َا‬, ‫ِا‬, ‫ُا‬, ‫َا‬, ‫ِا‬, ‫ُا‬, / ε__#.
Nominative
jga¥`'َ*. )
aghsh (ِ‫) ِﭜ‬
l`9t'ُ‫)ء‬
g`O`9(‫)ها‬
(i) Singular masculine nouns with ‫ او‬ending are
inflected by changing ‫ او‬to ‫اي‬.
Rule: ‫ اي او‬/ ε__#.
Oblique
jga¥`'َ*. )
aghsh (ِ‫) ِﭜ‬
l`9t'ُ‫)ء‬
g`O`9(‫)ها‬
Example sentences:
Nominative: gd9`jga¥``}gd9
gd9`aghsh`}gd9
l`9tmdq`m`j`qd9sçh9
g`O`9k`äd9sçh9
Oblique:
jga¥`sd9Odg`
aghshsd9sR`∞ç
l`9tcYn9`c`a`j`qxn9
g`O`9cYn9ynq`}gd9
Oblique
sRgnjhqd9'‫)ﮀ&ي‬
Example sentences:
Nominative: sRgnjhqn9khjçd9sçn9
Oblique:
sRgnjhqd9khjçdxn9
Plural masculine nouns with ending are
inflected by changing to ‫ن‬
ِ ‫َا‬.
Rule: ‫ اَن‬/ ε__#.
Nominative
sRgnjhqa9'‫()&ا‬
In plural masculine nouns ‫ َا‬ending is replaced by
‫ن‬
ِ ‫َا‬.
Rule: ‫ ان َا‬/ ε__#.
Nominative
ot¥`'َ*+ُ )
Following are rules for oblique case noun inflections.
(ii)
Oblique
ot¥`'َ*+ُ )
Example sentences:
Nominative: ot¥to`∞çd9sçn9
Oblique:
ot¥`o`∞ç`xn9
Table 11. Nominative and Oblique forms of
noun sRnjhqn9' ‫)ﮀ&و‬
Gender
Number
Nominative
Oblique
sRnjhqn9
sRnjhqd9
Masculine
Singular
‫و‬6‫ﮀ‬
‫ي‬6‫ﮀ‬
sRnjhq`9
sRnjhq`m`
Plural
‫ا‬6‫ﮀ‬
‫ن‬6‫ﮀ‬
sRnjhqh9
sRnjhqh9`
Feminine
Singular
‫ي‬
ِ 6‫ﮀ‬
‫ي َء‬6‫ﮀ‬
sRnjhqt}
sRnjhqtm`
Plural
‫ن‬06‫ﮀ‬
F06‫ﮀ‬
Nominative
sRgnjhqn9'‫)ﮀ&و‬
Singular masculine nouns with ‫ ُا‬endings are
inflected by replacing ‫ ُا‬with ‫َا‬.
Rule: ‫ َا ُا‬/ ε__#.
(vi)
Oblique
sRgnjhq`m`'‫) ﮀ&ن‬
78
Plural feminine nouns with ‫ اون‬ending are
inflected by changing ‫ اون‬to ‫ن‬
ِ ‫ُا‬.
Rule: ‫ن اون‬
ِ ‫ ُا‬/ ε__#.
Proceedings of the Conference on Language & Technology 2009
Nominative
jg`¥t}9(‫ن‬-.)
Nominative:
Oblique
jg`¥tmh (ِ,-ُ .)
Oblique:
Example sentences:
Nominative: gd9`jga¥t}`}gdm`
jg`¥tmhsd9Odgn9
Oblique:
(xi)
(vii) Plural feminine nouns with ‫ُن‬2 endings are
inflected by changing ‫ُن‬2 to ,
ِ 2ُ .
Rule: ‫ُن‬2 ,
ِ 2ُ / ε__#.
Nominative
aghsht}9(‫ُن‬34‫)ﭜ‬
Oblique
aghshtmh(ِ,3ُ 4‫)ﭜ‬
(xii) Plural nouns of category (x) listed above with
‫ اون َء‬ending are inflected by replacing ‫ اون َء‬with
‫ اَن‬in the end.
Rule: ‫ اَن اون َء‬/ ε__#.
Oblique
sRgnjhqh9` ‫ﮀ&ي َء‬
Nominative
uhsRçt}9a(َ‫)وﮀنء‬
äau}a (َ‫نء‬8‫)ﮘ‬
Example sentences:
Nominative: sRgnjhqh9o`qçd9sçh9
sRgnjhqh9`o`qçxn9
Oblique:
Oblique
açd9®tmh(ِ,‫ﭨ‬3‫)ﭜ‬
3.3.1. Vocative Case (‫?ا‬I (-e). Sindhi vocative case is
formed by prefixing an interjection before the
nominative. For example `d9cnrs'#‫( )اي دو‬O friend)
and `∞dx`}q (‫ر‬2 ‫( )اڙي‬Oh friend). Noun can also be in
vocative case without interjection prefix. For example
the word cnrs`is used individually with half long or
long stress like cnrs`∂(َ#‫ )دو‬also means O friend.
Following are some inflection rules for vocative case of
nouns in Sindhi.
Example sentences:
Nominative: açd9®n}`sRg`m`sçhxn}
açd9®tmhcYhhy`s`j`qxn9
Oblique:
(x)
Nouns which remain same in plural and singular
numbers in nominal case are also inflected in
oblique case. These singular nouns are inflected
by adding ‫ َء‬morpheme in the end regardless of
their last ending vowel.
Rule: any ‫ َء‬any / ε__#.
Nominative
g`sçh9(‫)هﭤ‬
uhsRçt}9(‫)وﮀن‬
Oblique
uhsRçt`md(,‫)وﮀ‬
ä`t`md(ِ,8‫)ﮘ‬
Example sentences:
Nominative: uhsRçt}9`Ñ`mfdx`mdsç`9
ä`t}``sRg`mdohxt}
uhsRçt`mdÑ`mf`xn9
Oblique:
ä`t`mdjçd9g`j`k`9
Plural feminine nouns with ‫ اُون‬ending are
inflected by changing ‫ اُون‬to ‫ن‬
ِ ‫ُا‬.
Rule: ‫ن اُون‬
ِ ‫ ُا‬/ ε__#.
Nominative
açd9®o}(‫ﭨن‬3‫)ﭜ‬
Oblique
g`sçdt`me(,ُ37‫)ه‬
r`sçdt`md (,ُ3‫ﭤ‬#)
Example sentences:
Nominative: g`sçh9jç`}dm`sç`9
r`sçh9f`kg`}dmsç`9
Oblique:
g`sçdt`me kçdgo:
r`sçdt`mdf`kg`xn9
(viii) Singular feminine nouns with ‫ي‬
ِ ‫ ا‬ending are
inflected by changing ‫ي‬
ِ ‫ ا‬to ‫اِي َء‬.
Rule: ‫ اِي َء اي‬/ ε__#.
(ix)
Plural nouns of category (x) listed above with ‫اي‬
ending are inflected by adding ‫ اَن‬in the end.
Rule: ‫ اَن اي‬/ ε__#.
Nominative
g`sçd9(‫)هﭤ‬
r`sçd9(‫ﭤ‬#)
Example sentences:
g
Nominative: a hsht}9`}kxt}`}ghmd
aghshtmhsdo`}®h9g`}q
Oblique:
Nominative
sRgnjhqh9(‫)ﮀ&ي‬
g`sçh9jç`}d9sçn9
uhsRçt}9Ñ`mfd9sçn9
g`sçh9a cYn9l`}khj`9
uhsRçt}9a cYn9Ñ`mf`
(i)
Oblique
g`sçh9a(َ‫ء‬7‫)ه‬
uhsRçt}9a(َ‫)وﮀنء‬
‫ ُا‬ending of singular masculine noun is replaced
by ‫ َا‬ending in vocative case.
Rule: ‫ َا ُا‬/ ε__#.
Nominative
~`}qt (ُ‫)ﭔر‬
Example sentences:
Example sentences:
79
Vocative
~`}q` (ُ‫)ﭔر‬
Proceedings of the Conference on Language & Technology 2009
Nominative:
Vocative:
(ii)
~`}qto`∞gd9sçn9
~`}q` o`∞g`
occur due to prefix or suffix addition. Complex words
are also formed by infix changes in stems. Compound
words are formed by combination of free form
morphemes which are themselves complete words.
Nouns are inflected by number, gender and case. There
are only two numbers in Sindhi; singular and plural.
Number inflection rules are defined by vowel endings.
Masculine and feminine genders are also cause
inflections on nouns. Noun genders and their inflection
rules are also defined by vowel endings. Practically
there are five cases in Sindhi but theoretically linguists
discuss eight cases (same cases of Sanskrit). In Sindhi
three of them ablative, locative and instrumental cases
come under the umbrella of postpositional case (‫ي‬
). Accusative-Dative, postpositional (‫) ي‬
and genitive cases are called Oblique forms (also
known as general form) and have common inflectional
changes in nouns. Sindhi morphological issues, gender,
number and case inflection rules discussed here
provide foundations for morphological parsing models
of Sindhi nouns and other classes. The discussion also
provides basis for further studies of computation
models of Sindhi morphology.
‫ َا‬ending of plural masculine noun is replaced by
‫او‬.
Rule: ‫ او َا‬/ ε__#.
Nominative
~`}q` (ُ‫)ﭔر‬
Vocative
~`}q`n (‫)ﭔرو‬
Example sentences:
Nominative: ~`}qto`∞g`mdsç`9
`∞d9~`}q`n9 o`∞gn9
Vocative:
(iii)
Singular masculine nouns with ‫ او‬ending are
inflected in vocative case by changing ‫ او‬to .
Rule: ‫ او‬/ ε__#.
Nominative
O`}cçn(‫)واڍو‬
Vocative
O`}cça} (‫)واڍا‬
Example sentences:
Nominative: O`}cçn9j`}¥çtj`sd9sçn9
Vocative:
O O`}cça} j`}¥çtj`sd9sRg`Ñ`
(iv)
5. References
Singular feminine nouns with ‫َا‬, , ‫اِي‬, and ‫ ُا‬are
not inflected in vocative case and remain in their
original form. For example:
Rule: ‫َا‬, , ‫اِي‬, ‫َا ُا‬, , ‫اِي‬, ‫ ُا‬/ ε__#.
Nominative
açd®t'ُ‫ﮡ‬3‫)ﭜ‬
y`}k`(‫(زال‬
[1]
S.
W.
Bakhash
(2006).
“rhmcçh9~n9kh9cYn9r`q`e`h}m`g`O`” The Morphology and
Syntax of Sindhi Language, Sindhi Adabi Board. Jamshoro.
[2] M. Q. Baig, (2006). “rhmcçh9Ohx`}j`q`®`” Sindhi
Grammar Part III, Sindhi Adabi Board. Jamshoro.
Vocative
açd®t'ُ‫ﮡ‬3‫)ﭜ‬
y`}k`(‫(زال‬
[3] C. Jennier. (2006), The Sindhi Language. In K. Brown
(ed). Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd Edition,
v. 11:384-386. Oxford: Elsevier.
Example sentences:
Nominative: açd®tm`}q`}yt`}gd9
y`}k`ah9l`}q``}gd9
`h9açd®tm`}q`}ytm`sçh9
Vocative:
`∞d9y`}k`gdÑ`}ç`sR`
[4] G.A. Allana (1984). “rhmcçh9ln`k`l`” Sindhi Teache,
pp 143, Sindhi Adabi Board. Jamshoro.
[5] J. A. Nawaz, (1983). “hkhltkkhr`}m`h}rhmcçh9yta`}m`”
Linguistics and Sindhi Language, pp 110-111, Sindhi Adabi
Board. Jamshoro.
4. Discussion and conclusion
[6] J. A. Nawaz, (1983). “hkhltkkhr`}m`h}rhmcçh9yta`}m`”
Linguistics and Sindhi Language, pp 116-116, Sindhi Adabi
Board. Jamshoro.
Sindhi morphological construction can either be
derivational or inflectional. Sindhi morphology is bit
complex because of primary and secondary word types
with further division of compound and complex words.
Derivational morphology mostly results different class
words but sometimes it may result same class words are
well. For example derivation takes place when common
noun Oa}pa}r ‫ر‬+‫ وا‬is converted to abstract noun Oa}pa}ri:
‫ري‬+‫وا‬. Morphological changes in Sindhi words may
[7] J. A. Nawaz, (1983). “hkhltkkhr`}m`h}rhmcçh9yta`}m`”
Linguistics and Sindhi Language, pp 114-114, Sindhi Adabi
Board. Jamshoro.
[8] J. A. Nawaz, (1983). “hkhltkkhr`}m`h}rhmcçh9yta`}m`”
Linguistics and Sindhi Language, pp 122-122, Sindhi Adabi
Board. Jamshoro.
80
Proceedings of the Conference on Language & Technology 2009
[9] G. A. Allana (1984). “rhmcçh9ln`k`l`” Sindhi Teacher
, pp 153-153, Sindhi Adabi Board. Jamshoro.
[10] G. A. Allana (1984). “rhmcçh9ln`k`l`” Sindhi
Teacher , pp 6-6, Sindhi Adabi Board. Jamshoro.
[11]
S.
W.
Bakhash
(2006).
“rhmcçh9~n9kh9cYn9r`q`e`h}m`g`O`” The Morphology and
Syntax of Sindhi Language, pp 15-15, Sindhi Adabi Board.
Jamshoro.
[12] M. Q. Baig, (2006). “rhmcçh9Ohx`}j`q`®`” Sindhi
Grammar Part II, Sindhi Adabi Board. Jamshoro.
[13] J. Rizvi, (2007) “Development of Algorithms and
Computational Grammar for Urdu” PhD. Thesis, Pakistan
Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
[14] Chomsky, Noam, and M. Halle. 1968.The sound pattern
of English. New York: Harper and Row. xiv, 470 pages.
Reprinted 1991, Boston: MIT Press.
[15] M. Q. Baig, (2006). “rhmcçh9Ohx`}j`q`®`” Sindhi
Grammar Part III, pp 168-168, Sindhi Adabi Board.
Jamshoro.
[16] G.A. Allana (1984). “rhmcçh9ln`k`l`” Sindhi Teacher
, pp 21-21, Sindhi Adabi Board. Jamshoro.
81